In surgical procedures, it is frequently necessary to dissect out ducts, veins, nerves and other sinuous tissue from associated tissue. Particular examples of this are: isolating the cystic duct and cystic artery prior to clipping and dividing these; dissecting out the Vagus nerve or its branches when performing Vagotomies for ulver surgery; dissecting mesenteric vessels for future large and small bowel resections; and dissecting hilar vessels for pulmonary resectioning; and dissecting out vessels for doing hysterectomies or nephrectomies.
In typical procedures, this does not present a problem. By using a combination of scalpel, forceps and probes, a surgeon can separate and pull apart the desired vein or duct and separate this from the associated tissue. The surgeon has two free hands and an open area to work with to accomplish this.
In scopic and laparascopic procedures, this is not the case. To begin with, only a limited number of instruments can be used at one time, generally only one or two. Further, the instruments, due to the way they are inserted into the body cavity, have a limited range of motion. For this reason, it is very difficult to separate veins, ducts and the like from the associated tissue. It can be done, but it generally requires substantial effort and time. When scalpels are employed, the possibility of cutting thevein or duct which is being separated is increased.